Garden Photo of the Day

Push your Pot off the Patio and into the Plants!

Photo/Illustration: Michelle Gervais

Containers aren’t just for patios and decks, they can also be used as focal points within a planting. Scott Endres pushed this pot off the patio and into the border in his St. Paul, Minnesota, garden. The surrounding plants make the container look even more rich, and a trailing variegated St. Augustine grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum ‘Variegatum’, USDA Hardiness Zones 9-11) connects the plants in the container to the plants in to the ground below.

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Comments

  1. lepfan 06/21/2011

    Wow! What a beautiful container. The glaze in shades of green looks even better than a bright color would. The painted fence works well as a backdrop and pulls everything together. Definitely one of my favorite photos.

  2. ncgardener 06/21/2011

    Nice look. I have done this, especially with my larger containers and it make such a difference. I also like to use it on bare spots as the season transitions. great idea!

  3. wwross 06/21/2011

    Thats nice. I hadn't thought of using a tall pot for helping to draw the eye to the other plants.

    Ditto on using pots to fill in for season gaps in the bed.

  4. akiba37 06/21/2011

    What a wonderful idea, to place your container plants among your garden plants. I am going to act on this immediately, and de-clutter my porch, at the same time!

  5. sheilaschultz 06/21/2011

    Gorgeous container, as usual, Scott. Love your work.

  6. arboretum 06/21/2011

    A great pot with a great planting combo- what a difference from the attempts of lesser mortals........

    One of the things that pot planting in a border- enables- is bring height and/or certain colors or textures to a spot where plants in the ground- could not have those attributes.
    One of Gertrude Jekyll's tricks was to have her helpers place potted hostas (large mass of color/large leaves) to fill certain blank spots in her gardens throughout the season. As the season progresses and surrounding plants get taller and fuller, it is easier and easier to place such a potted hosta either on the ground, (if you want the pot hidden) or higher in the garden-on a riser (cinder block etc) if you want the pot to be seen but the riser to be hidden.

    best,
    mindy
    http://www.cottonarboretum.com/

  7. natiper 06/24/2011

    Good idea. As an avid fan of your column, I really appreciate all the ideas you have been posting. I am looking forward for more great ideas.

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